come to him, replied the host You jest, man ; tis impos sible, saijl the priest, in his first impulse of astonish ment Faith, then, tis no jest at all, your reverence, but the truth, as I m a sinner, and that s no lie, any way, said Spillane. It was the literal truth. When the dying- man heard how the priest had been denied admission, and driven from his door, he was intensely afflicted ; but he in vain sought to move the stern obduracy of his wife. Not one belonging to me ever disgraced himself by turning Papist, and you shan t be the one to commence. The poor woman believed she was only doing her duty, and in this tranquillising conviction she soon forgot her troubles in sleep. But the dying man was inconsolable, and ho moaned and wept in a manner to touch the heart of one of his sons, to whom he addressed the most earnest en treaties that he might be allowed to die as he wished to die. Moved alike by the tears and importunities of his father, the son at length yielded. But what was to be done ? The priest could not enter the house his mother would not allow that ; how then could his father s wish be accomplished? There was only one way of doing it, and that was quickly resolved upon and adopted. Carefully wrapping the dying man in the clothes in which he lay, the son raised him gently on his back, and, stealing softly with his precious burden, he crossed the threshold with, noiseless step, and bore it a, mile through the dark forest to the house in which the priest found shelter for the night, and there laid it down in safety. Whether it were that Nature rallied her failing resources, or that the spirit rose superior to the frailty of the body, it may be difficult to say ; but the father preserved strength enough to be received into the church, and prepared for death, and to be brought back to his own home, in which he shortly after breathed his last For several years, or as long as his mother lived, the son did not separate from her communion ; but he afterwards became a Catholic, and is now the wealthy
